I WRITE this letter to say how much I support the firemen in their plight for more money.

I wholeheartedly agree with them. I was saddened and sickened listening to Mr Andy Gilchrist (the leader of the Fire Brigade Union), on the TV. He says Mr Blair and Mr John Prescott have quite categorically stated that they cannot afford to pay any large rise the firemen ask for.

Well, first of all, Mr Blair, I would like to put to you, if you weren't so free giving the taxpayers' money to the likes of asylum seekers and such, you would have a lot more money to give to our own needy.

Secondly, I would like to say to Two Jags Prescott, perhaps if these hard-working men got half the amount you get, they may, too, be able to afford to live a better life.

I would also like to say to Mr Blair, if, God forbidding, we ever had a catastrophe like Bali, you will need these brave men. So I put it to you, why don't you ask the taxpayers where they would like their money to go, instead of dishing it out to people who do not deserve it?

Mrs P McCabe

Park Road, Bolton